A note on LT/Patriots feud

Since there doesn't appear to be any TV footage of this incident, I figured I'd try and clarify the LT/Patriots debate with what I saw with my own eyes on Sunday.

I bought a ticket to the game (just wanted to see it; I don't root for either team) and was sitting in the end zone.

After the game was over, a Patriots player -- I believe it was a player with No. 20-something, possibly Ellis Hobbs -- ran straight to the middle of the field and stood on the Chargers helmet painted at midfield.

Facing the Chargers bench, Hobbs started doing the Merriman "Lights Out" dance. At the time, I don't think anyone was within 10 yards from him. I immediately thought of TO posing on the Dallas star.

LT walked quickly or jogged toward him, gesturing and pointing, and by that time many others had reached midfield and they pulled him away -- the end of that sequence is the moment caught by the TV cameras.

I wouldn't exactly say it was a case of LT being a sore loser or having sour grapes. It seemed like a pretty blatant action on the part of the Patriots player.

The difference here, though, was that the game was over and the Chargers players should have been walking off the field with their heads down, not looking for Patriots players acting crazy at midfield.

The difference here, though, was that the game was over and the Chargers players should have been walking off the field with their heads down, not looking for Patriots players acting crazy at midfield.

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When the game's done, the showmanship ought to stop. You walk to the middle of the field, shake hands, then go to the locker room. If they wanted to mock the Chargers, they had all game to do it. A celebration is fine, it's expected from the winning team, but you don't mock the losing team there. Show some class.

No excuse for the Patriots' actions. Act like you've been there before.

More serious -- the other day I saw two 12-year olds throwing a football in a busy street. One caught a ball, then lay down in the street pretending to nap, a la TO. A car could have run him right over.

I agree that the Patriots should have shown more class. That kind of stuff is beneath them. But if Shawne Merriman is going to dance like a fool and rub the other team's face in it every time he gets a sack, the Chargers shouldn't be surprised if other teams do the same kind of stuff to them. If LT doesn't like it, he should talk to Merriman, not the Pats.

In my opinion, what LT was doing is what the shrinks call "projection."
His objection to Hobbs' stupid act was really, "Hey, I know he sucked. Don't rub my teammate's failure in my face."
When Tomlinson ripped Belichick, it was because he had to say mean things about some coach after the game, and NFL etiquette prevented him from saying "Will someone get me away from Marty the January Jonah while I'm still in my prime, please?"

Uh, when you lose a playoff game in part because, at critical times, one of your guys head-butts an opponent after the play right in front of the official, and another one of your guys gets an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty ON A POINT-AFTER-TOUCHDOWN, you pretty much have a flagon of STFU all to yourself in re: "disrespecting the game/us."

The difference here, though, was that the game was over and the Chargers players should have been walking off the field with their heads down, not looking for Patriots players acting crazy at midfield.

Click to expand...

When the game's done, the showmanship ought to stop. You walk to the middle of the field, shake hands, then go to the locker room. If they wanted to mock the Chargers, they had all game to do it. A celebration is fine, it's expected from the winning team, but you don't mock the losing team there. Show some class.

No excuse for the Patriots' actions. Act like you've been there before.

When the game's done, the showmanship ought to stop. You walk to the middle of the field, shake hands, then go to the locker room. If they wanted to mock the Chargers, they had all game to do it. A celebration is fine, it's expected from the winning team, but you don't mock the losing team there. Show some class.

No excuse for the Patriots' actions. Act like you've been there before.

Click to expand...

Even less excuse for LDT's actions. You lost the game. STFU.

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I'll hold the instigators up to more scrutiny here. Patriots have won three Super Bowls, they ought to know how to act following a second-round victory.

Everyone is right here. It was classless and showed poor sportsmanship on Ellis Hobbes' part. At the same time, if Merriman is going to do his stupid dance, the Chargers players really can't gripe when someone throws it back in their face at the moment of defeat. Karma's a bitch. As for Tomlinson, you could tell by the look on his face as time was winding down how hard he took that loss. I don't blame him. He was pissed, saw a guy rubbing it in and in the heat of the moment, he reacted. He really is one of the good guys, though. A lot of us would have reacted if we had seen someone rubbing it in after a loss like that.